


The Deal

by Northern_Lady



Series: Unfinished Marvel Tales [5]
Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe, X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Bullies, Father-Daughter Relationship, Finding courage, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Violence, Weapon X Project
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-24 22:52:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14963745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Northern_Lady/pseuds/Northern_Lady
Summary: Logan meets his laboratory daughter (not Laura) while working at Xavier's School and doesn't quite know how to handle the new responsibility.This story is another one that has been on my computer unpublished for a long while and I thought it was time to share whether I felt it was truly complete or not.





	The Deal

Logan was outside Xavier's school supervising some kids at the basketball court when the black SUV pulled up. He knew a government vehicle when he saw one and he made his way towards it as it parked and four men in suits climbed out. One of the men spoke to someone still inside the vehicle. 

“Alright Libby, it’s time to get out out.” the man said. 

“I don't think so, bub.” a girl replied.

“Now don't make this more difficult than it has to be,” the man said warily. He started to reach into the vehicle. A booted foot kicked the man back. Two of his companions immediately pulled guns from their jackets and had them aimed inside the vehicle. 

“Alright, alright, I’m getting out. But Gordy had better stay back.” the girl said, “If he touches me I will fucking kill him.” 

Logan had nearly reached the vehicle when the girl climbed out. She looked to be twelve or maybe thirteen years old. She was a small kid. Less than five feet tall and too scrawny to have kicked back one of those men like she had just done. Her red hair was in into two long braids but was coming loose and sticking up in odd places on her head much like his own hair did. The girl was in shackles and probably should have been afraid given the situation she found herself but she looked more defiant and careless than afraid. 

“What the hell is going on here?” Logan asked as he reached the group of visitors. 

“You James Howlett?” one of the men asked. 

“Yeah,” he said a little confused what any of this had to do with him. 

“Good. We brought something that belongs to you.” the man stepped over and grabbed the girl called Libby by the arm and started to pull her forward. She didn't react well to that. She let out a scream that was more like a roar and her hands which were balled into fists in the shackles suddenly had three metalic claws protruding from her knuckles. She turned mid scream and stabbed into the belly of the man who had touched her. She pulled her claws out of him and was making a dive to stab him again. The other three had their guns on her but she had no intention of stopping. Two of them fired. She was hit in the shoulder and the stomach and the force of the bullets knocked her back. Logan could see that she was healing as she got to her feet again and that she had every intention of actually trying to kill the man who had touched her. All four men had guns on her now but she didn’t seem to care. She was wild with rage. She took another dive at the man she’d already stabbed but this time Logan was close enough to catch her in midair. He had no idea what was going on with these men and this girl but the violence needed to end if he were ever going to find out. 

Logan found very quickly that she was a lot stronger than she looked but she was really no match for him. She struggled against his arms, screaming, but she never used her claws on him and after half a minute she gave up struggling and started to cry, defeated. 

“What the hell is going on?” Logan asked a second time now that the shooting and violence had ended and he seemed to have the kid under control. 

One of the men was calling for an ambulance. Another of them answered the question. “This kid was conceived from genetic material stored at Alkali Lake and implanted in a surrogate. Her name is Olivia Grey Howlett. She was kept secret on purpose but...she’s yours..your daughter.” The man explained sadly, and kept his distance wary of what Logan might do. “Weapon X program can’t manage her anymore. Her mother’s mutation means that she resists all forms of mind control too well to be of any use to the program. She’s managed to escape from most types of restraints and from several different types of cells. She killed a lot of guards trying to escape. They tried to execute her five different times and none of the ways they tried actually worked...so since no one in the program can control her or contain her, we hoped that maybe you could.” 

Logan looked down and found that instead of struggling against him, Olivia had gone still and was basically hugging him instead. 

“Looks like maybe you can,” the man said with a shrug. 

An ambulance arrived and took away the injured man. One of his friends went with him. The other two got back into the SUV but not before handing a manila envelope to Logan. “Keep her under control because if she kills anyone the only thing left to do with her is a cell at the bottom of the ocean and you’ll go there with her.” 

Moments later they were gone and Logan was left standing there in the school yard with this kid actually clinging to him. Her face was buried against his chest and he could hear her heart racing. The SUV drove away and Olivia pulled away from him and looked up. “Are they gone?” 

“Yeah, they’re gone.” 

“Good,” she pulled free of his arms. “I’m outta here.” She turned and walked away towards the road. 

“You’re not going anywhere kid.” Logan called after her. He couldn’t just let her go. Those weapon x people meant business. They always did. 

“Yeah, I am,” she continued walking without looking back. “Watch me.” 

Logan sighed and went after her. He caught up to her easily and walked alongside her, matching her pace. “Look kid, you can’t leave. You heard what they said will happen if I don’t keep an eye on you. I’m pretty sure that drowning is one of the things we can’t actually survive so we’d be stuck in that cell for good. Is that what you want?” 

She stopped walking and turned to him. “I’m not gonna kill anyone. They only want you to keep me from killing people. I’m not gonna kill anyone. I promise. Can I go now?” 

“No,” he shook his head. 

She took one step back. 

“Don’t even bother trying to run off. I am faster and stronger than you and I will win.” he told her. 

She looked absolutely furious at his words but she didn’t run. “You’re seriously gonna make me stay?” 

“Yeah. Did you have someplace better to go?” 

She shrugged, “I was gonna...break into a wine cellar.” 

“Not now you’re not. You’re gonna go to school.” Logan turned back towards the school and waited for her to follow.

“Do they at least have wine in this school?” 

“No. They don’t. Have you ever even had wine?” Logan asked as she actually did follow him back towards the school. 

“Yes. Back at Alkali, Captain Marcus always had a stash of wine in his office and he always blamed Gordy for stealing it but it wasn’t Gordy. At first I just did it because I wanted Gordy in trouble but later I did it for the wine. And then Captain Marcus figured out it was me and he just gave it to me for good behavior. You seriously don’t have any?” 

Logan just stared. Was this kid an alcoholic? “You shouldn’t be drinking anyway. How old are you kid?” 

“Fourteen. I know I don’t look like it. I’m just small cause when I ran away for three years I didn’t always get enough to eat. It doesn’t make me too young to drink.” she argued. 

“Yeah, it does,” Logan said as they reached the door to the school. 

Olivia stopped walking, crossed her arms and glared at him. 

“What’s that supposed to be for? Is that supposed to scare me into changing my mind?” Logan asked her. 

“How the hell am I going to sleep tonight?” she asked, angry. 

“We’ll figure it out,” he said, irritated. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent finding a room for Olivia as well as seeking out clothes for her, taking placement tests, and signing up for classes. She did all that and then ate dinner in the cafeteria next to Logan in sullen silence. Logan didn’t feel much like talking either. He never asked to be handed a kid and this one seemed to be a bit of a mess. He wasn’t sure he was up to the task of sorting her out. 

A boy about her age sat down at the table across from Olivia. He asked a few questions, her name, if she would be staying at the school, and seemed to be trying to make friendly conversation but she wasn’t exactly participating in the conversation. Her answers were brief and even annoyed. Her left hand was sitting on the table and when the boy asked Olivia if she wanted to join a group of them taking a bus to a pool in the city. Olivia didn’t answer that at first, she just glared at the boy, then the claws on her left hand slowly came out. The kid took one look at her claws and got and left the table. 

“Don’t you think that was a bit much, scaring him off like that?” Logan asked her. 

“No, not with what he was thinking about I don’t.” 

“Was it that bad?” Logan asked, concerned, trying to brush off the fact that this kid was a telepath and deal with what had just happened first. 

“It was just regular stuff that all the boys think,” Libby said, “But I can’t think about any of that. Not after what Gordy…” she didn’t finish the thought. She got up from the table to take her tray to the return window. Logan got up and followed after her. 

“You don’t have to follow me,” she said, “I’m not gonna kill anyone and I don't need you worrying about me.” 

Logan hadn’t really been aware that he was worried but she was half right. He was at least concerned he had to admit. “Maybe not, but I’m not so sure you won’t try running away. So for now I’m coming with you.” 

Libby had been given a room right next to Logan’s. For hours that night he heard her pacing the room. Her heart was racing for much of that time, he could hear everything she was doing. If he had to guess, it would seem that Libby didn’t know how to fall asleep without a sedative. Then as the hour grew late he heard the sound of her window opening. It was a three story drop to the ground but Logan knew that a girl like Libby wouldn’t be afraid to make that jump. He got up quickly and checked his own window. Sure enough she had jumped and was making a run for it across the school grounds. He opened his window and made the jump, landing heavily. Libby heard him land and tried running even faster. She was fast and her light frame probably helped with her speed. She had nearly reached the road by the time he caught her arm. Libby turned to him with a roar and had her claws out but she didn’t attack him. 

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Logan demanded. 

“You can’t make me stay at this stupid school. You can’t!” Libby answered. 

“Actually, I can. It’s not such a bad place. Just tell my why you wanna run away so badly and maybe we can do something to fix it.” 

“I don’t care where they claim my DNA came from, you’re not my father.” She said, with angry tears. “Those morons at Alkali have been trying to control me my whole life. This idea of theirs that I can be manipulated by sentimental bullshit is never going to work. It won’t work because I don’t know you and I don’t trust you and I’m better off on my own.” 

“Look, I don’t like this any more than you do,” Logan told her. “I was under the control of the Weapon X Program once too. I have no interest in controlling you. I never even knew until a few hours ago that you even existed so I wouldn’t be too hurt if you did run off. But you know as well as I do that they have the resources to put us in an ocean prison if they really wanted to. Is that what you want to happen?” 

“Nothing will happen as long as I don’t kill anyone,” she argued. “I’m not completely savage. I can manage to keep the violence to a minimum.” 

“That might not be enough. Can you manage to not hurt anyone anywhere?” he asked. 

“Sure. I can if I have to.” Libby insisted. 

“I still can’t let you go,” Logan said with a sigh. He wasn’t sure she was capable of that at all. 

“I’m just gonna run away again later,” she almost growled at him. 

“I know. Doesn’t matter. You’re coming back to the school for the night anyway.” 

“I won’t be able to sleep,” she continued to argue as he he pulled her arm to bring her with him. “At least let me have something to drink if you’re gonna make me go back there.” 

“Would that actually make any difference?” Logan asked her, hardly able to believe he was considering this. She did have a healing mutation though so it’s not as if the alcohol would have the same effect on her as an ordinary girl. It at least wouldn’t harm her health. 

“Yes,” she said earnestly. “Yes it would make a difference. It would be a lot easier if I could sleep.” 

“Here’s the deal then. If I give you one beer, then for twenty-four hours you’re not gonna try to run away and you’re not gonna take your claws out for anything,” he told her. “And we are going to eventually wean you off of that stuff.” 

“Fine. Deal.” Libby agreed. She had stopped struggling against his grip on her arm and was walking peaceably inside. 

Libby followed Logan to his room and went in when he left the door open. He went to a small fridge in the corner and pulled out a can of beer. “I shouldn’t be doing this,” he said as he passed it to her. 

She took a step back as if to go back to her own room. “Drink it here,” Logan said. LIbby sat down in a recliner in the opposite corner of the room and popped the lid on the can. She drank the beer down in one long drink. She put the can down and took a deep breath and Logan saw something like relief in her features. There were tears in her eyes. She picked up her feet into the recliner and hugged her knees as she leaned to one side in the chair and almost immediately fell asleep. 

Watching her, curled up asleep like that, Logan found that he felt a little sorry for her. The poor kid had probably had a worse time of it than he had at Alkali. Logan got out an extra blanket and covered her up. Then he went to bed himself. 

When Logan woke up in the morning Libby was still sitting in the chair in his room. She was awake and watching him with an expression that he couldn’t interpret. She got up and handed him the blanket which had some new holes in it the size of her claws. “Sorry. Nightmare.” she said. 

“It’s fine. Happens to me all the time.” 

“You have nightmares too?” she seemed genuinely interested. 

“Yeah, sometimes about the wars, sometimes Alkali Lake,” he admitted. 

“How do you fall asleep then?” Libby asked and he was pretty sure she wanted to know how he could fall asleep without drinking. 

“It gets easier with time,” he told her. “Sometimes I still don’t sleep either but it isn't always as bad as it used to be.” 

“That’s why you have the beer in here,” Libby said, she knew it even though he hadn’t said it. “Sometimes you need it to sleep.” 

“Doesn’t make it right. Besides I’m not a kid.” 

“It’s not like I can get drunk anyway,” she started to argue. 

“How much do you weigh anyway? Ninety pounds? Maybe you can get drunk. Beer isn’t supposed to be the answer to your problems or mine. We’re gonna have to work on fixing that. For now let’s just work on getting through today.” 

“I guess I’m supposed to go to classes with all the rest of these freaks?” 

“These freaks might be your friends if you’ll give them a chance,” Logan told her. 

“Friends are for losers. I’m not going to be friends with these people. I’m not going to like them and they’re not going to like me.” she said firmly. 

“Suit yourself.” Logan moved to leave the room. “I’ll meet you at breakfast in twenty minutes. You try to run off, remember I can track you.” 

“Whatever you say sir,” she said sarcastically. 

Libby did come down for breakfast and she did manage to get through a day of classes without violence or trying to run away. It seemed like maybe this transition was going to go smoothly after all. Then late that afternoon before supper Libby was standing outside by herself watching a group of kids play no powers soccer while several other teens stood in groups taking along the edge of the field. Logan was in his office correcting papers but he had a window open and could see and hear everything going on outside. 

There was a scrawny kid named Colin in the game who always had to make a lot of effort to play these games without powers. Another boy, Ted, tended to be a bully if he wasn’t watched closely and this soccer game was no exception. Logan didn’t actually see Ted knock Colin to the ground with his energy force powers but when he glanced out the window the kid was on the ground and several teens were yelling at Ted for cheating. Enough of them were yelling at him that he admitted he had done it and tried to say it was only a joke. They backed off and resumed their game. The second time Ted cheated, Logan saw it happen. Colin was knocked to the ground with a great deal of force and he got up from the ground with a bloody nose. Logan got to his feet to go out there and put an end to Ted’s bullying. Hank was on his way over to do the same thing. Then he saw Libby move towards Ted. 

“Hey Keebler!” she shouted at Ted. Part of the boy’s mutation were his pointed elf-like ears. 

Ted turned to her looking furious. “Who are you calling Keebler? 

Libby marched up to the taller boy and got as much in his face as she could. “I’m talking to you, bub.” 

“Get away from me you little bitch,” Ted said, annoyed. He raised his hands to blast her with energy but she stood her ground and the energy barely moved her. Ted seemed a little frightened by that. 

“I’m not going anywhere until you apologize to Colin.” Libby said. 

“What, are you gonna make me?” Ted asked. 

Libby just glared at him and her claws slowly came out from her hands.

“She won’t have to,” Hank reached them just then. “Because I will. Ted you will write a formal apology and will have detention for the rest of the week. You’re out of the game. Go.” Hank turned to Libby. “While I appreciate your efforts to end the bullying, using your claws on Ted would have been taking it too far. I had better not see them out again unless we’re in the danger room.” 

Hank walked away and Colin approached Libby. “You didn’t have to do that,” he said. “But thanks.” He continued past her, holding a sleeve to his bleeding nose. 

“Let me help you with that,” Libby said, and she headed to the nurse office with Colin. 

That evening after supper Libby came and knocked on Logan’s bedroom door. “Got any more beer?” she asked as he opened it. 

“You didn’t exactly keep to the deal today.” Logan reminded her as he let her in. “I saw your claws out on the soccer field today.” 

“I didn’t hurt anyone.” she argued. 

“You didn’t, but that wasn’t the deal.” 

“Fuck you…” she muttered as she started to back out of the room. 

“Now hold up. Maybe I could be persuaded to change my mind if you could answer a few questions for me.”

“What questions?” she asked warily. 

“I thought you weren’t going to make any friends here, yet you’re not only defending Colin today but sitting with him at supper? What’s that all about?” 

“Colin is different. He grew up in a lab too...so...he gets it…” Libby began. 

“He get’s what?” 

“He gets how it feels...the fear that won’t go away...the inability to trust anyone...the difficulty sleeping...how much it hurts...all the time…” she crossed her arms across herself and started to cry. “Do you have more questions or can I go now?” 

“What’s the story with Gordy?” Logan asked. 

Libby gasped and took a step back. “Forget the beer. I’m outta here.” 

He realized he’d asked too much. “Libby wait. Sit over there and I’ll give it to you.” 

She did as she was told and went to the chair. Logan hated doing this, enabling her problem but at the moment he couldn’t see a better way. She needed to establish a little stability in her life before he tried to take away her coping mechanisms. He passed her the can and as before she drank it quickly and soon afterwards curled up asleep. He thought about carrying her to her room to sleep but didn’t fancy the idea of getting stabbed if he startled her. He covered her with a blanket again and went to bed. 

The next morning he woke up and found Libby was still there. She was awake and had tears all over her face. 

“You okay?” Logan asked her. 

She turned enough to meet his gaze for a moment. “You actually do care,” she said, a little surprised. 

“I suppose I do,” Logan admitted. He barely knew this kid but he liked her and he didn’t want to see her suffer any more than she already had. The fact was, she was his biological daughter and the only thing in the world left of Jean. He couldn’t help but care. “What had you crying? A nightmare?” 

“No,” she said rather absently. “I woke up a while ago and forgot to feel scared. For like six minutes I was just awake and peaceful...it was so weird…” 

“And then you remembered to be afraid,” Logan said, understanding. 

Libby nodded. 

“Look, kid, I know all about how fear can stick around even after the danger is gone. I hope you know that in spite of all that, you are safe here.” Logan told her. He didn’t like the idea of her being afraid. Truthfully, if there ever was any real threat to her, he would protect her. She ought to be aware that she was safe. 

Libby didn’t react to his statement as expected. She got to her feet, hastily rolled up her blanket in a ball, threw it at his head, and stormed out of the room. Logan didn’t go after her. He didn’t expect he would get an explanation if he had. 

The rest of the day went fairly smoothly. Libby went to classes, ate lunch with Colin, and didn’t cause any problems with the other students. That afternoon Logan sought her out. 

“I have to go into the city,” he told her. “I think you’d best come with me.” 

“Sure. Whatever.” she shrugged, following him to his motorcycle. “Where are we going?” 

“We’ll buy you some clothes since you seem to have hardly any, and then stop by the hospital to visit a friend of mine.” 

Libby wasn’t all that interested in shopping and was only willing to accept a minimal amount of clothes. After they left the store the two of them headed over to the hospital to visit an old military friend of Logan’s. The man was in his seventies but had been only twenty five when they had fought in the war together. Libby sat by silently while they swapped old stories. 

“Sorry to interrupt,” she said, getting to her feet. “The bathroom was down the hall to the left wasn’t it?” And she wandered out without really waiting for an answer. 

Libby was gone a long time. Logan started to wonder if she had tried to run off again. He said goodbye to his friend and set off to find her. He followed her scent as far as the restroom and quickly discovered that she had continued past the restroom and gone to the stairwell. He followed her trail two floors up, out of the stairwell, and down a long hallway to one of the patient rooms. The door was ajar. Logan pushed the door open and found Libby sitting curled up on the floor in one corner just sobbing. He didn’t understand what was going on until he looked at the unconscious patient in the bed. It was Gordy. 

“Libby? What are you doing here?” he asked her gently. 

“I came here to kill him...I could smell him...he wasn’t hard to find...but I couldn’t do it...I just want him dead and I can’t do it!” she sobbed. 

“What did he do to you?” Logan asked. 

“Back at Alkali they would chain me up to try out different sedatives and control collars that might work on me. Anytime they tried a new method, I had to stay chained for twenty four hours to make sure I didn’t have a violent reaction. Gordy got the idea that since I was already chained up, he could do whatever he wanted with me. The stuff he did...I just wanted to die...I felt like I was dying but I couldn’t die… and so many times I wished he would just kill me...it would be better if I could just die…” 

Logan hadn’t even noticed his claws come out as she told her story. He only became aware of it as someone else entered the room. 

“Hey!” It was one of the other men who had brought Libby to the school. The man instantly dropped the coffee he carried and pulled out a gun, “What the hell are you two doing here?” 

“We’re just leaving,” Logan said. Libby didn’t move. It was like she was somewhere else, lost in some nightmare and she couldn’t even hear him. Logan knelt and picked her up and carried her out of the room. She didn’t become aware of him until they entered the parking garage and he tried to set her on her feet next to the bike and then she gasped actually seemed aware of her surroundings at that point. 

“You okay?” Logan asked her as he climbed onto the bike. “You gonna be able to manage hanging on for the ride back?” 

“I can manage,” she said, climbing on behind him. 

They got back to the school and carried her purchases to her room. Then Logan wandered into his room and took out a beer. He wasn’t even going to make her ask this time. Libby was standing in the doorway looking lost. 

“You want this?” Logan asked her. 

She came into the room, took the can, and sat down in her usual chair, but she didn’t open it. She just sat there watching him. 

“What?” he asked, unable to figure out what she could possibly be thinking. 

“I don’t have many mutations from Jean Grey. I don’t have her telekinesis, and my telepathy is pretty limited. I do have the empathic ability though, and of course the ability make psionic shields or else they would have been able to control me… but all this time as an empath… I never felt anyone wanted to protect me before. Not until today. I felt it a little of that this morning when you tried to tell me I would be safe here and it made me angry because it’s too late for that. Being safe now can’t fix what already happened...but then at the hospital I realized you really meant it. You’re angry about what Gordy did to me and you would kill anyone who tried to hurt me again.” 

Logan nodded his agreement. “Yeah, that’s all true.” 

“Then will you kill him for me?” 

“What?” 

“Gordy? Will you kill him for me?” she sobbed. “I’m not asking you to walk into his hospital room and murder him but if he ever comes near me again. I think I might freeze up...Look. I’ll do anything you ask me to do, you can have the beer back, I won’t take out my claws or get in any fights...I just need to know that he’ll never be allowed near me again and get to live…” 

“He won’t,” Logan told her quite honestly. “If he ever comes near you again, I won’t let him live. I promise.” 

Libby breathed a sigh of relief, took the blanket and curled up and went to sleep without ever drinking the beer. The next morning Logan awoke to the sound of Libby opening the window next to his bed. There was hardly any light in the room. It was just before dawn. 

“Don’t worry. I’m not planning to run.” she said as he sat up. “There’s something going on out there. Hear that?” 

He heard it too. A couple of students were having a fight. 

“Oh my god, it’s Ted and Colin. He’s killing him!” Libby tore the window open further and made the jump without a second thought. 

Logan went to the window and saw a different scenario than he had imagined. It wasn’t that Ted was killing Colin, it the opposite. Ted was on the ground and Colin was blasting him with water, drowning the larger boy. Libby had almost reached them and was screaming at Colin to stop. Logan made the jump out the window. Libby grabbed Colin’s arm and pulled him away from Ted. 

“What the fuck are are you doing?” She shouted at her friend. 

Colin ended his water blast and stood there trying to get a hold of his breath and his anger. Ted was getting to his feet, ready to run. Logan caught Ted before he could get far. “What happened here?” he asked the two boys. 

“It was nothing Sir,” Ted said, more respectful than usual. “Just a stupid argument.” 

“Colin wouldn’t try to kill you over a stupid argument,” Libby spoke up. “What did you do?” 

“Nothing, I was just joking around and he took it too seriously, that’s all.” Ted said. 

“I doubt that,” Logan said, not quite believing that even tempered Colin would explode into a rage over a joke. “What happened?” Logan insisted. He wasn’t going anywhere until he got some answers. 

“Ted was saying a bunch of shit about LIbby, that’s all,” Colin said uncomfortably. “I’m not gonna repeat it.” 

“Whatever he said doesn’t mean you get to kill him,” Logan told Colin. “The both of you need to head inside and see Ms Munroe. And do it without any more violence.” 

The boys headed off inside and Logan turned to find Olivia watching him with her arms crossed across herself, looking amused and annoyed all at once. 

“What?” Logan asked her. “You hear what it was those two were actually fighting about?” 

“No, I wasn’t listening. I just think it’s funny that you’re telling people not to resort to violence. Or that I was out here trying to stop Colin from killing Ted. I don’t even know why I did that. Everything would be a lot simpler if we could just kill the people who hurt us.” 

Logan shook his head. “Just cause fighting is easier than talking doesn’t mean it’s always the right thing. If everyone just killed the people who hurt them, pretty soon there won’t be too many people left in the world.” 

“The world would be a better place without people like Gordy in it,” Libby half argued her reply. 

Logan nodded and he stepped close enough to put his arm around her as they walked back inside. “Probably would be,” he agreed. 

Libby sighed as they walked and then she spoke again. “I changed my mind. I don’t want you to kill him for me.” 

“Don’t tell me you became a pacifist just like that?” 

“No,” she shook her head. “It’s just...I’m starting to think that maybe I won’t freeze up when the time comes. Maybe if I stay here long enough I can kill him myself.” 

“I think you can,” Logan agreed. It was easy to see that a sense of stability and family was doing her a lot of good. He hated to admit it, but it was doing him a lot of good too. “Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t help you if you needed it.” 

“Thanks,” she smiled a little and then pulled away from him because across the field Colin and Ted had started arguing again. Ted had knocked Colin to the ground. “Hey! You let him up!” Libby shouted at Ted and ran to catch up to them. 

Logan shook his head as he watched her run off. She had basically just backed out of her deal to stop drinking in exchange for his killing Gordy and hadn't even asked for a beer. She had only been at the school less than a week and he knew that if she left now his life would never be the same.


End file.
